4 candidates vie for 3 commission seats

Four candidates will square off in the November election for three seats on the Boyne City Commission. Pictured here (from left) are incumbent Chuck Vondra; incumbent Mike Cummings; challenger Derek Gaylord; and challenger Thomas Neidhamer.

BOYNE CITY -- Four candidates will square off in the November election for three seats on the Boyne City Commission.

The bids do not include re-election efforts by incumbents Chuck Vondra or Mike Cummings. Vondra is the current mayor.

Commissioner Gene Towne -- recently appointed to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Dan Adkison -- will seek election for the first time. Challengers Mark Dole, Derek Gaylord and Thomas Neidhamer will also be on the ballot.

Towne, 70, said he wants to continue the work he began after his appointment this year, including efforts to grow the community's well-paid jobs while balancing tourism-related and industrial assets.

"I want to be part of the decision-making they're doing here," Towne said.

Towne has lived in Boyne City his entire life, save for four years in the U.S. Air Force and about a dozen years as an East Jordan resident.

Dole, 46, is a local handyman and longtime Boyne City resident. He wants the Devlon property along Lake Charlevoix to be acquired by the city, as well as the development of a skate park for local youth.

"I just felt it was time to do something for the city," Dole said.

Gaylord, 46, bought a home and moved to Boyne City in 1995. He works as the administrator at the Charlevoix County Jail and is a U.S. Army veteran.

Gaylord said he wants to "contribute and keep this good thing going in Boyne City, to be a part of it." He also seeks a balance between tourism and industry in Boyne City's economy, as well as focus on the city's year-round residents.

Finally, Neidhamer, 56, planning commission chairman, said his more than a dozen years of city planning service prepared him for additional public roles. He has lived in Boyne City most of his life and is a retired local teacher and athletic coach.

"I just felt I have the time and interest to raise it up a bar," he said. "I think I'm a leader and I think I'm a communicator."

Neidhamer previously served on the Boyne Falls Village Council about three decades ago, he said.

Two open commission seats are for full four-year terms, while the third is a two-year, partial term to complete Adkison's old term.

Vondra said he chose not to seek re-election so he can have more time to spend with his family, including coaching his children's athletic teams. He spent the last two years as mayor and the previous dozen years as a city commissioner.

"I loved it because you can really accomplish stuff. I enjoy everybody who works for a common good. That's why Boyne City is successful," Vondra said.

Cummings said he did not seek re-election to allow for a break to recover from his recent cancer treatment.

"I am going to take a couple of years off," he said.

A fifth city resident petitioned to seek election to the commission this year. However, Marvin Verwys had not been a registered city voter for at least one year by the filing date, although he did meet residency requirements, said Cindy Grice, city clerk.

Valid candidates must have at least one year as a resident and registered voter to seek election to the commission. Verwys came in about six weeks short of the registered voter condition, Grice said.